Heatwave
by evieeden
Summary: A trip to the beach produces unexpected results. The weather is hot, but the wolves are hotter. Advent story written for 12th December


**Happy 12****th**** December. So today's advent story is slightly happier than yesterday's, and no-one will be surprised to find that once again, it's a wolf pack story.**

**Big thanks go to LJ Summers who was kind enough to beta this for me. As always, I must state that I do not own Twilight.**

**Heatwave**

It was just so hot.

I mean, I knew it was summer, but this was Forks, land of eternal rainfall. Yet all of this last month we had been experiencing one of the worst heat waves that the county had ever seen. In addition to that, I had broken up with my own personal cooler, Edward, leaving me no way to stop the burning heat that coursed through me other than lots of cold showers.

Charlie's water bill was going to be sky high this month.

Fanning my face with my hand, I decided to get out of the house for a while and get some fresh air. This usually meant a trip down to La Push and First Beach, the only place I knew I could go without being confronted by my ex-boyfriend or any of his family.

I had loved Edward, I really had, but the trauma of what I had been through with James, along with Edward's constant refusal to give me any kind of comfort had finally made me snap.

I remembered the look on his face when I had asked for hug, the tentativeness with which he touched me and how he had let go as quick as he could. I knew that he was just worried about accidentally being overcome by his bloodlust and biting me, but I had just wanted some kind of contact, to feel safe and looked after, just for a little while. And he couldn't give me that.

He _wouldn't_ give me that.

My temper had finally reached its limit.

The leftover terror from my attack, the need for some kind of reassurance, and the humiliation I felt at having to beg my boyfriend for physical affection had all coalesced to the point where the next time Edward told me that he wouldn't touch me for my own safety, I had screamed at him to get out and leave me alone in the future.

Ever since then I had been visited by various members of the Cullen family begging for me to give him a second chance since he couldn't live without me. For the first time ever though, I held my ground and refused to give in. I was tired of adapting my natural behaviour to make allowances for the Cullens' nature. I still loved them all, but with some time and distance, my rose-tinted glasses were removed and I finally saw them as they were.

Unfortunately, one of the things that they were was persistent, and so I had taken to hiding down at the reservation where I knew they couldn't go, just to get some peace and quiet.

This heat, though, almost made me reconsider my decision.

Leaving a message for Charlie to let him know where I would be, I started the slow drive down to the coast.

The beach was packed when I got there, students from both local high schools taking advantage of the weather. I grabbed my bag out of the cab and trundled towards the less busy end of the beach, away from the group of Forks High students I could see down the other end. It wasn't that I didn't want to talk to them, but I knew a lot of them were curious about my sudden distance from the Cullens and I would only be nagged at for details if I sat with them.

In the distance I could see Jacob Black and his two best friends surfing. He spotted me and waved, a grin crossing his face, and I waved back happily at him. I liked hanging out with Jake. Even though I had pitifully flirted with him before, we had settled comfortably into being good friends and, although I still caught him looking at me speculatively sometimes, I knew he wouldn't press the issue with me.

A sharp whistle came from his left and he swung his head round to see his friends paddling out to meet a wave coming in. With one last smile, he turned his attention back to the serious business of surfing.

Flopping down on the grainy sand a short distance from where I could see Jake's discarded belongings, I spread my towel out and settled down to read, making sure to slather myself in sunscreen so I wouldn't burn. In the distance I could hear shouts and laughter as everyone made the most of the fine day. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a group of guys kicking a soccer ball around, their shadows falling over me from time to time as they ran past me.

I grunted as something smacked me in the side and I jerked upright to see that ball had rolled over to me.

"Hey! Over here." One of the guys was waving at me and I tossed the ball as far back towards them as I could, which wasn't actually that far.

The three boys immediately began to laugh at my pathetic efforts and I felt my face turn red as they jogged over. The bulkier of the three reached the ball first and, as he cast a glance at me, his face darkened.

"Hey, Sam! It's the leech lover. What's she doing here?" He scowled in my direction as the other two looked over me curiously.

Leech lover?

I blanched. Was it possible that these guys knew what the Cullens were? It certainly sounded like it.

The first guy was still glaring at me. "You know your boyfriend's not welcome here so I don't know why you are either. Why don't you run along back home to your precious bloodsuckers?"

"Paul!" The tallest of the three men rebuked his friend sharply. "That's enough."

He looked me over carefully, his face tightening as he took in my exposed legs and the scars that covered my right limb. As his eyes moved up to my face, he hesitated for a split second, the hard mask dropping for a brief second before it returned.

The other boys looked on inquisitively.

The tallest one glanced back at his friends and nodded briefly.

"Come on, Paul. Let's go." The shorter one dragged his companion back and they sprinted back down the beach after the ball again. The tall one stayed where he was.

"I'm sorry that Paul yelled at you," he finally said. "He has some anger issues that need to be dealt with."

I looked down and shrugged. I wasn't sure what to say to this man. He and his friends obviously knew something about the Cullens, but I wasn't sure what and it wasn't the kind of thing you could just discuss out loud with strangers.

"It's okay." A small part of me felt compelled to continue explaining everything to this strange man. "Although you can tell him that I have no intention of bringing my ex-boyfriend down here to La Push. I'm more than aware that he isn't welcome."

The guy tilted his head to one side. "You and Cullen broke up?"

For some reason, him knowing the identity of my boyfriend didn't freak me out.

"I broke up with him," I explained. "Two weeks ago."

He nodded. "Billy will be pleased to hear that."

Okay, this guy definitely knew what was going on. With that in mind, I thought I should probably leave to avoid any other confrontations like that one. I tossed my book and sunglasses in my bag.

"Yes, I bet he will. If you see him, can you please tell him that I'm sorry I didn't listen to his warnings any sooner?"

I went to stand up, but the second I moved, my injured leg gave out from beneath me. I toppled back towards the sand, only for my fall to be halted a second later by my companion. He held me upright, one arm around my waist.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

I grimaced at the feel of the pins and needles now running up and now my limbs and stretched my leg tentatively out. It screamed in pain at the action, but I couldn't stay clinging to this strange man all day so I pushed lightly against his bare chest.

He was hot, very hot. And not just looks wise, although I did briefly take note of those as well. He was a lot taller than I was, at least over six foot, and his hair was cut short. He wasn't wearing a shirt, along with most of the male population on the beach, aIthough most of the other guys weren't sporting an eight-pack. I was sure it wasn't natural for someone to be running so warm though, even in this overheated weather.

"Are you alright?" I countered. "You feel like you're burning up."

He grimaced. "I run hot normally. I'm really healthy as a horse."

"Oh." I wasn't completely convinced. "Okay, then. I guess it sucks to be you in this weather, then."

"Yeah." He laughed. "Definitely makes cooling down a priority."

His arm was still wrapped around my waist and, as if he had just noticed it himself, he carefully lowered me back to sit on my towel.

Once I was safely on the ground, he held out his hand. "Sam Uley."

I shook it and introduced myself. "Bella Swan. But then you already seem to know that."

He laughed. "True." He let go of my hand and I felt strangely bereft by the movement. "What's wrong with your leg?"

I pulled a face. "I broke it recently and managed to cut the artery up at the same time. I've been out of the cast for three weeks now, and it's getting stronger, but every now and then it just won't support my weight and I end up in a heap on the floor, as I did today... or would have if it weren't for you."

He scratched the back of his neck. "Did you have any physical therapy on it at the time?"

I shook my head. "No. It didn't really seem worth it." I glared at the useless limb. "Although I probably regret that now."

"You should exercise it more," he told me. "To build up the muscle strength."

I grimaced at the thought. "I don't really do exercise. I'm not very coordinated normally and exercise doesn't help that."

He paused for a minute and then scooped me up bridal style off the towel I had been sitting on. I let out a squawk of surprise.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Helping you." He smiled easily.

A shout came from down the beach and I noticed that his two friends were now watching us avidly. He yelled something back to them in a language I didn't understand and both of them grinned before hooting and sprinting into the ocean, pushing and splashing at each other as they did. Sam began to carry me in their direction and I shrieked again and clung to his neck, hoping he wouldn't drop me.

As much as I didn't appreciate his high handedness is just picking me up, at the same time I revelled in the contact between us. It was so nice to have someone, especially an attractive male someone, touch me so casually. His warmth seemed to encompass my body as well as his and although he still felt hot, it wasn't as noticeable as before when I was pressed up against him.

"How is this helping me exactly?"

He didn't answer, strolling through the water as if the tide had no effect on him, and then dumping me in the freezing water when it was deep enough.

The cold stole my breath away and I floundered for a moment before his strong arms wrapped around my waist once more. A quick glance downwards revealed that he was still standing on the seabed while I frantically tried to keep my head above the water.

"You jerk!" I splashed him in the face. "What are you doing? You can't just manhandle me like that. Let go of me!"

He obliged with a smile and I kicked frantically so stay afloat. My sore leg ached as I fought against the tide that threatened to drag me under the second I stopped moving. The tightness in my leg loosened somewhat though, making it easier for me to kick my body upwards. Still, my lack of general exercise was beginning to show and my limbs were getting tired.

My body was growing heavier and, just before my head ducked under the water, Sam stepped forward and wrapped his arms around my waist again, supporting me easily.

I smacked him in the shoulder.

"What the hell did you do that for?! I could've drowned."

"No, you wouldn't have," he replied easily. "I would've helped you before you started drowning."

He grinned at me and I felt my lips twitch back.

"Take me back to shore," I demanded.

"How's your leg now?" He ignored my order and instead seemed to be studying the length of my leg in the clear water.

"It's aching. What did you think?" I snapped at him.

"But is it still cramping?"

I glared at him but obligingly stretched out my leg. It still twinged a little, but the pain shooting through it was gone.

"Huh." I looked at Sam wide-eyed.

He grinned at me. "It feels better, right? You just need a way to exercise your leg and build up the muscle again without putting too much strain on it. Water therapy's good for that."

I stretched my legs again. This time there was no hint of the pain that had crippled me before. Sam's hand came down to wrap around my injured leg, the warmth of his hand massaging and soothing the remaining ache in my muscles. Other parts of me began to warm up and I squirmed minutely under his touch.

Sam froze for a second and then slid his hand slowly up my thigh, his fingers brushing achingly close my centred before anchoring around my waist again. A heated look crossed his face and I glanced down and blushed.

Trying to regain my composure, I hastily turned our attention back to my injured leg.

"How do you know all this stuff anyway?"

A shadow crossed his face.

"I used to want to study sports medicine at college. I got a scholarship to go to Seattle."

"So why didn't you?" I was being nosy, but there was something about the way that he had spoken that piqued my curiosity.

"I was going to," he explained. "But family obligations kept me here."

His head bowed and a flash of sympathy sped through me. I ran my hand up and down one of the arms supporting me. For some reason, I really didn't like the look of disappointment that had briefly crossed his face when he spoke about his scholarship.

I was lucky that Charlie and Renée didn't care what I did and were happy as long as I was happy. I was also lucky that both of them were capable of looking after themselves so in theory I could leave whenever I wanted. I wasn't sure I would ever feel entirely comfortable leaving Charlie alone to cook for himself though – that would just be a disaster.

"I'm sorry," I offered inadequately.

He gave me a brief smile and I immediately felt better that I hadn't offended him with my questions.

"It's okay." He shrugged. "There are a lot of good things about staying here on the reservation. I have it a lot better than some people."

For some reason, that comment seemed loaded with meaning to me, although I couldn't work out why.

"Come on."

Keeping one arm around me, he walked back towards the shore, ignoring his friends when they swam past us and splashed a ton of water over his head. They hooted at him and then immediately kicked back out of reach.

"Woooo! Go Sammy!"

"Go for it, big dog!"

Sam grimaced, looking a little embarrassed. "Don't worry about them." He shook his head, sending excess water everywhere. "They were raised by wolves. They haven't learned manners yet."

I laughed.

"Here." Sam set me down on the ground near the shoreline carefully. "Can you stand now?"

I touched my feet tentatively down and then leaned my weight onto each foot. My legs held and a beaming smile crossed my face.

"It worked!" I squealed. "Thank you." Turning sharply, I threw my arms around Sam's neck and hugged him, pulling away from the embrace before he could protest. "That really helped."

"It's no problem."

He rubbed the side of his neck where I had hugged him and stared at me intently.

We crossed back to where I had left my towel and I started drying off and gathering my belongings. Sam stood silently next to me and then walked me back to my truck. Despite only having just met him, it didn't seem odd for him to walk with me to the parking lot by the beach. Instead it felt strangely comfortable to be in his presence.

I threw my bag and towel in the bed of my truck when we reached it and turned towards the cab. I noticed that Sam had moved almost imperceptibly closer.

"So," I began.

"So," he repeated.

I blushed. "Thanks for all your help today, I really appreciate it."

"No problem," he immediately replied. "I'm happy to help anytime."

I nodded and smiled at him.

I climbed up into the cab of my truck only for him to catch the door of my truck before I could close it. I looked sharply at him.

He hesitated for a second before seeming to gather his nerve.

"If you wanted, I could help with your leg another time? I didn't go to college, but I learned all the basics beforehand. If you don't want to see a proper physical therapist then I'm happy to help.

A part of me wondered what he got out of helping me, but then I thought about the pain I had been experiencing lately whenever my healing limb cramped or weakened and how he had known what to do when I couldn't move before.

As much as I tried not to think about it, I also remembered how I'd felt when he'd slid his large hand up the bare skin of my thigh.

"I'd like that," I finally agreed. I really didn't need that much persuading.

"Great!" He gave me a bright smile and I automatically smiled back. "Want to come back tomorrow at the same time?"

"Sure. I'll see you tomorrow then, Sam."

"See you tomorrow."

He stood and watched me drive off and I couldn't wipe the grin off my face.


End file.
